Ornamental plaque



Jan. 1, 1946. c w. JOHNSON 2,392,046

ORNAMEN TAL PLAQUE Filed Feb. 14, 1944 INVENTOR.

C ar/03f} JS/msoa mr/n y Patented Jan. 1, 1946 onNAeMENTAL rns UE Charles W.-Johnson, Green-River,, W-yoa-. 'Application Febfnar y 14, 1944,-sei 1a1-Na=is22f2s 1-* p 7 (chair-sand r 1 Claim:

My'inventlon relates to plaques and the like for grave markers or monuments and has for its obiect to provide a new, practical, and economical method of constructing such plaques which will permit the reproduction of any beautiful picture upon the marker.

A further object is to provide a new method of reproducing most artistic landscapes, designs et cetera from materials in plastic form such as concrete, magnesite, and any other suitable material which may be used in various color combinations to produce the desired result.

A still further object is to provide a new method of and process for producing artistic views in scenery, or fanciful designs, without the use of any expensive molds or forms, thus allowing greater variety and individuality so that any scene or picture may be reproduced to suit the customers taste or ideas, at very low cost, and extending to each grave marker the personal touch of the purchaser or of the deceased person.

A still further object is to provide a new method for making scenic efiects for murals, advertising mediums, garden furniture or fireplace mantel scenes at extremely low cost and in a very short period of time.

These and many other objects I accomplish with the process set out hereafter in which similar numerals and letters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views and as described in the specification forming a part of this application and pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawing Figure l is a view of the reproduced scene. Figure 2 is a view of the stencil used in reproducing .the scene.

The process in general is as follows:

If it is desired to produce a scene from a photograph or other type of picture, the first step is to produce on heavy stencil paper an enlarged drawing of pencil sketch of the scene to be reproduced, the sketch to be the exact dimensions desired for the finished plaque. This of course applies only to the terrain only as the sky can usually be executed without any stencils. The sketch may be made freehand or produced by means of a pantograph or enlarging process photographically. If the sketch is done in black and white and the finished plaque is to be colored, then the producer decides what colors are to be used and marks them on the stencil wherever they are to be used by numbers such as shown in Figure 2, numbers I to l inclusive.

If the producer is to make the entire marker both body and plaque may be cast at one time or if they are to be made separatelyor if theplahue is to be applied to another marker then it is made separately or a recess is cut in the face of the marker and the plaque body'surface cast therein. Should they both be cast integral this can be accomplished by making a framework of wood or metal and the main body cast therein and when it has set an additional smaller frame is set on top of the body and secured to the outside frame-- work. This latter frame may be beveled if the plaque is to be beveled and this produces the plaque elevated above the main marker body. Having set the supplemental form the producer then pours the basic material for the plaque preferably in plain white color. When this has been poured the colors desired to represent sky and water are immediately blended in with the white surface, to produce the desired tints in the sky and water. This part is done without any regard as to the location of the solid parts of the terrain such as trees, rocks, mounts, buildings etc. When the sky and water has been blended the plaque is allowed to set sufiiciently to hold the shape and the clearly defined objects which are to be brought out in relief or filled in are produced by placing the stencil down on the plaque form and securing it there, being careful to mark its exact location so that it may be returned to the exact place at a later date, in the forming process. A sharp instrument is then inserted through the slots in the stencil and the essential outlines traced on the plaque surface. The stencil is then removed and the partially hardened material within the marked area is gouged out to cut away from a depth of /8 to /2 inch. The colored materials are then worked into the recesses so formed and built up in relief as desired to form rocks, trees, mountains or other objects appearing in the scene. The colors of the materials are mixed to meet the requirements of the scene as set out in the numerals on Figure 2 to produce the final picture. This usually is done in numerical order from 1 to 8 as indicated. Skill must be exercised to insure that the desired colors are properly mixed and placed where required. Some colors of course must be blended to meet the desired colors of the scene. In the drawing the colors used are dark green for numeral I, dark brown for numeral 2, willow green and blending shades for numeral 3, dark red brown is used for numeral 4, and red and green is blended in the areas number 5. The area shown as numeral 6 is a light brown and I is black while 8 is red for rock formations. The sky in Figure l is of course blue in color blended with the white of the plaque.

Should there be water in the scene being reproduced the efiect of clearly defined reflections in water such as trees, clouds or mountains are brought out as follows. In this case the general outline of the reflection is produced in the stencil and within the scope of this outline many slots are cut in the general direction of the reflection to be produced. As soon as the material poured for the plaque ha s beenblended with the colors for the skyand water. the stencil is placed on the frame andcolorsrepresenting the reflections desired are introduced through the slots in small quantities. The stencil is then removed and with one or two short strokes or sweeps of the trowel, the colored material is blended into the surface representing water, and this produces a very realistic reflection. In all cases; water and sky, or sky alone where there is no water in the'scene, is prosame as set out before.

Having thus described my invention I desire to secure by Letters Patent and claim:

A new method of making scenic murals. comprising pouring a base of concrete, blending into the plastic concrete the colors needed for reproducing the sky and water of the scene; allowing the concrete to set sufilciently to hold its shape; placing a stencil of the mural being reproduced over the concrete base carefully marking the base and stencil for future reuse of the stencil; marking through the stencil the outlines of the mural: removing the stencil and gouging out some of the base material where marked and reinserting ready mixed colored concrete in the colors necessary for the scene: returning the stencil to the base and inserting certain desired colors through the stencil removing the stencil and blending these colors with those already in the base to make the finished mural.

CHARLES W. JOHNSON. 

